International Journal of Pharmaceutics & Drug Research

Akansha Patwa, Christine Carvalho, Neeti Parmar*, Neha Manoti, Pratiksha Sakpal, Sejal
Rathod

ABSTRACT

Flavonoids are antioxidant molecules which possess antibacterial and antifungal properties. They are potential reducing agents that provide protection from UV radiation and oxidative damage. Spices like ginger, garlic and pepper are indispensable for the preparation of our daily food and are reported to possess compounds, which have varied beneficial biological effects. The present study evaluates the antioxidant and the antimicrobial activity of the flavonoids extracted from Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (hibiscus), Piper nigrum (black pepper), Zingiber officinale (ginger) and Allium sativum (garlic) against Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Aspergillus niger (A. niger). Flavonoids were extracted using 95% ethanol as a solvent. The presence of flavonoids in the ethanolic plant extracts was detected using NaOH and HCl and the flavonoid estimation was carried out using the AlCl3 method. Antioxidant activity of all the extracts was determined using phosphomolybdenum assay. Results obtained indicated that flavonoids extracted from all the four plant materials were effective against S. aureus and A. niger. Flavonoids obtained from hibiscus, ginger and garlic could inhibit the growth of E. coli whereas the one’s obtained from black pepper proved to be ineffective. The growth of P. aeruginosa was not inhibited by any of the extracted flavonoids thus rendering them ineffective against it. Thus, in the light of several factors such as increasing drug resistance, allergies towards synthetic compounds, side effects, etc., the present study encourages to use flavonoids as an alternative or supplementary drug and also supports its use in traditional medicines, various skin care products and other medicinal formulations with further investigation.

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